Fire and Ice
by Mistseer
Summary: Kira's name is spreading far and wide, and Light has most criminals cowering in their boots. Except for Shogo Makishima. He, naturally, takes it as a challenge.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. I know, shocker. Ready for another one? I don't own Psycho-Pass either. Ok, keep breath deep breaths, I know it's hard to believe and all, but it's true. :P**

**Hello! I'm just going to set up the setting for this story: It is in the world of Death Note, though there may be some small Psycho-Pass elements mixed in. We haven't met L or Misa yet, Light is still solo (and not insane). **

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_Some say the world will end in fire,_

_Some say in ice._

_From what I've tasted of desire_

_I hold with those who favor fire._

_But if it had to perish twice,_

_I think I know enough of hate_

_To say that for destruction ice_

_Is also great_

_And would suffice._

_~Robert Frost, Fire and Ice_

Fire and Ice

Light's fingers tapped they keyboard gently, brushing away the firewalls that the police had so vainly put up. They were no match for his intellect. It was very fortunate how his father had mentioned that the police had unofficially caught the serial killer terrorizing Kanto Japan at dinner, Light mused, despite his usual closed-lip policy about work matters. The maniac had not only murdered people, but left there gruesome remains in public places where anyone could find it. The mystery killer was quite notorious, despite the majority of media being devoted to "Kira." Light smiled at this. But the smile slipped off his face as he remembered the numerous articles asking why Kira didn't kill this man, questioning his ability to enact justice, and even suspecting that Kira _was _the same person committing such evil crimes.

It had been agonizing, being compared to such scum, having to wait for incompetent police to catch the criminal, and being unable to do anything. Being confined to watching the news and listening to vague hints from his father about the investigation in the hopes that the killer had been unmasked, but always being disappointed. The police were weak. They couldn't enact justice. Only Light could do that. And he could have done it much swifter had it not been for one man: L.

L had humiliated him by pinpointing his location in Kanto, Japan, and thus forcing him to act as nothing more than a high school student. Had it not been for L, Light could have investigated the case and solved it weeks before the police. But instead he had to study meaningless information, laugh with witless "friends," and go on one-sided dates in order to blend with the mass of high school students whose biggest concerns were exams. But that didn't matter now. Even though the police were slow, they weren't completely useless; they had determined the killer.

With a final tap of his fingers an image of a man appeared on the screen. He was probably in his forties, with dark brown hair and eyes that sloped down so that he looked sad. Light skimmed the description next to the picture. Shou Wanatabe. Suspect of kidnap and murder in The Specimen Case. Awaiting capture… Light didn't read any further. He had what he needed. Retrieving the Death Note from its hiding place (which Light was very proud of, though he would not admit that to Ryuk), he opened it to a blank page. Then he grabbed his favorite ball-point pen and held it almost lovingly over the white paper.

Light pictured the man's face in his mind, though it was a little different than the picture displayed on the computer screen. Light imagined the man's sad eyes filled with terror as he realized the punishment for his crimes: Death. Then Light wrote the man's name.

_Shou Wanatabe _

Light smiled as he carefully returned the Death Note to its hiding place and shut down the computer, and then stretched his arms, yawing in a very satisfied manner.

"Glad that's over with," he said to himself.

"But you've been slacking, so concerned with one man. I don't see why you liked him more than the other criminals you killed." Came a raspy voice in reply. Light had forgotten about Ryuk floating behind him. Light admitted to himself that the tall, black shinigami unnerved him at first, but he had gotten pretty used to his appearance. He had not, however, gotten used to having that shinigami constantly float around behind him like a horrible balloon, leaving him no privacy whatsoever.

"He killed lots of people, not out of revenge or anything, but for _fun_. And then did horrible things with their remains to rub it in the faces of everyone who knew the victims." Light tried explaining to the shinigami.

"What do you mean, horrible things? They remind me of some other shinigami I know." Ryuk chuckled and Light sighed.

"Exactly." He said. But even Ryuk could not spoil his good mood. He tossed an apple behind him, and heard a loud crunch as Ryuk swallowed it whole.

"You're next, L."

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**This is just a random idea I had, so please tell me if you like or hate or are completely indifferent to it! Also, I have no set time of when chapters come out. It may take a day, it may take a decade (well, hopefully not ****_that _****long). They come out when they come out. Ciao.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall._

_ ~William Shakespear, Measure For Measure_

Chapter 2_  
_ L chewed his thumbnail thoughtfully, his toes curling and uncurling around the plush couch. Though he had narrowed the mysterious "Kira" down to a specific region, the Kanto district was very large and populated. He would need to find a way to narrow it even further, but unless Kira was an idiot the same trick wouldn't work twice. Perhaps he could do the opposite. He could stop criminals from appearing on the news in certain areas, and when the deaths of those criminals continued he could have it down to a neighborhood. But while TV news was fairly easy to contain, the internet was far too vast to control. If Kira used the internet instead of the news this information would become unreliable, and Kira could grow suspicious of his actions…

L chewed his thumbnail some more, which was already down to a stub. It was a habit of his. Very few cases managed to make him chew it to a stub, but the Kira Case was one of them. Maybe cake would help. L was about to call for Watari when he heard the old man approaching behind him.

His footsteps were the same, but his breathing was different. He normally breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, but now he was breathing in and out through his nose, showing that he was thinking. And that meant something had happened. And that meant cake would have to wait.

"What is it, Watari?" L asked.

"Shou Wanatabe is dead." Reported the old man gravely.

"He died of a heart attack?" L already knew the answer, but it was good to ask.

"Hai," replied the old man briskly.

"Time and location?"

"8:43:07 while in one of the detainment rooms; he was awaiting questioning."

"Get me all the video surveillance of Wanatabe in the police headquarters."

"Hai." Watari left L, who was chewing on his thumb with renewed vigor.

L had looked into the Specimen Case since it had close ties with the Kira Case, due to the public's and media's response to Kira's inability to stop the murders. It would have become a matter of pride for Kira, possibly causing him to be rash. L intended to use this to gain leverage over Kira. But as L investigated the case he realized it was more complex than the police realized. The murders had started two months after Kira first appeared, just as he was beginning to become famous. It's as if the murders were a response to Kira's threat, a challenge.

If you made this the killer's goal instead of random, mindless murders, Shou Wanatabe was highly unlikely to be the murderer. Neither he nor anyone close to him had any criminal record, so there was no need for him to challenge Kira in order to protect someone. He had a stable job and a family, so this was not a rash decision bred by desperation. A strong sense of justice did not lead him; only a very twisted person would kill innocents in an indignant response to the mass murder of criminals. L had seen twisted people, and Shou Wanatabe was not one of them.

No, Shou was only 16% likely to be the murderer. But, if somebody was challenging Kira, framing an innocent person and having them be killed by Kira, only to later expose their innocence, would be one of the first things he would do. So it was highly likely that Shou was being framed. That's why L made sure Shou's capture was kept strictly secret, with only those working on the Specimen Case or the Kira Case aware of his capture.

But for Kira to know of Shou's capture, and so soon, he must be either in the police force working on either case, or close to somebody in that position. All in all, there were about 43 families to investigate. At least L wouldn't have to waste time narrowing it down anymore. But if he was right about the Specimen Case, he now had two people to investigate, and the person orchestrating the Specimen Case seemed to know what he was doing.

L closed his eyes, despite the apartment already being dark, and rubbed his temples tiredly. They felt wet. He looked down at his hands and was surprised to see blood flowing from the tip of his thumb where he had chewed the skin off. As the scarlet liquid dripped onto the couch, L thought morbidly of this being the first case to ever make his thumb bleed.

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**For those of you who don't know, "Hai" mean "Yes" I use it 'cause it sounds cooler. So, how are y'all liking this story so far? Please leave your reviews telling me whether it's happy of crappy! Ciao'**


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